Tempted: A Cowboy Shifter Romance (Two Marks Book 2)

by Renee Rose

  “That’s it, sugar,” Wade encouraged, his touch gentling on my breast, his lips nuzzling my neck.

  Landry lifted his head and licked his lips with satisfaction. His eyes were the most beautiful shade of green. “Ours,” he declared, looking at Wade.

  “Uh huh,” Wade agreed.

  A tingle ran up my spine. I had no idea what they were talking about, but it seemed to mean something to my body. As if on some level, I understood I’d just been claimed. If that meant I got orgasms like that, I didn’t think it would be too bad. Right?

  5

  WADE

  I met Landry’s wolf-eyed gaze, and nodded.

  Caitlyn was definitely ours. I had no doubt. I kept my nose at her neck and breathed her sweet scent in deeply. My dick was so hard… had been since I first saw her.

  Fuck, she was more beautiful than I remembered. I’d waited two weeks—two long weeks—for her to show up. I’d barely thought of anything but her in all that time. I was the worst enforcer ever. I’d gone to Granger, taken one look at Caitlyn, and completely forgotten the mission.

  I’d been tasked to stop Caitlyn from coming onto pack land, but I’d done absolutely nothing to discourage her. In fact, she’d confessed her plan to come despite Gib’s refusal. All I’d done was pay for her meal and make her scream on my tongue.

  Then, I’d told myself it had just been for fun. I’d been screwing around—something I hadn’t done without Landry before. Her scent had taunted me. My wolf had stirred and pushed me to satisfy her. Once I’d tasted her, I understood why I’d succumbed to temptation.

  She tasted like she was mine.

  And by mine, I meant mine and Landry’s. Because our pack’s species mated in pairs, and Landry was my scent-match. His scent almost exactly matched mine, meaning we would smell identical to our mate. Two males for every female. A quirk of our DNA—evolution’s rapid solution to a dwindling female population who could still shift. Or a quirk of Fate, if one chose to believe in that fickle mistress. Neither science nor Fate could explain why our mate would be a human, though.

  Or why it would be a pint-sized wolf biologist hell-bent on tagging the wolves on our pack land. Which meant I was a shit enforcer, an asshole to the entire pack, and yeah, a mate dying to claim what was ours.

  Back in her apartment, as she’d come all over my face and fingers, I’d had to get out of there before I claimed her all on my own. The need had been so strong. That wouldn’t have been cool, because Landry had to be in on it. I’d needed his confirmation that I was right.

  Caitlyn Shriver was ours.

  In the fourteen days since, I’d been confident that she was our mate. But waiting had been near impossible. I’d told Landry all about her. Every detail I had etched in my brain. The short time with her had changed me. The monthly full moon pack run had been different. I hadn’t wanted to fuck a female shifter, to take the edge off. None held any interest to me or my wolf. Or my dick. Because of that, Landry hadn’t taken a female either. So I’d spent the time before the twelfth and Caitlyn’s arrival stuck with a cranky temporary alpha. I hadn’t kept her away, and was impatient because I’d ensured when she’d show up. When he’d find out I’d been right.

  And fuck, I’d been right.

  Now she was in my arms, where she belonged. Between me and Landry. She’d agreed to stay at my cabin. With us.

  Landry was in trouble with her too. He’d done the same as me, allowed her to come to pack land instead of pushing her away. He’d even gone as far as forcing her to stay. My wolf was thrilled, but it was a danger having her on Two Marks land. Her research was a danger to shifters and our animal cousins alike. We had to make her ours, in all ways, and soon. Keep that research from getting published.

  She had to be all in or all out. Right now, she might be in our arms, but she was neither of those things.

  Even with my thoughts warring, the sense of perfection rang through my bones like a bell. She was here, she was ours. She was satisfied by her men.

  Except, judging by the way she was adjusting her bra, she was suddenly turning self-conscious.

  “Let’s get your clothes back on, sugar.”

  “Don’t you want to fuck me… or um, something else?”

  Ah, this was a repeat of what had happened at her apartment, but with two men.

  “We can make sure we all get our happy ending somewhere a little more comfortable.” We’d gone down on her and gotten nothing in return. Neither of us had taken our pants off. Her insecurities were man-made. Literally.

  They were unfounded, but we would prove her wrong. Just not in a meadow over a boulder.

  “Trust me, what we have planned takes time… and a big bed,” I added, and Landry nodded, adjusting himself. I knew how he felt. I’d have a zipper print in my dick.

  I straightened her bra and t-shirt as Landry picked up her panties and jeans.

  Now that it was over, Caitlyn seemed a little nervous. Of course she was unsure. She was a human. She couldn’t scent us. Couldn’t be drawn to us like a compass to north. She couldn’t be content in her submission that it was forever.

  She had no idea what Landry had meant when he said she was ours. It probably freaked her out. Or maybe she was embarrassed about what we’d just done. She didn’t strike me as the most hedonistic of women. I had a feeling our sexy scientist was up in her head most of the time.

  Oh, we’d gotten her out of it, if her screams were any indication, but only for a short time.

  Knowing I needed to distract her, to get her back in her comfort zone, I brought the conversation back to wolves. And talking about how we planned to fuck her wasn’t going to help either of our cases of blue balls.

  “So you want to get trackers in the area wolves, huh?” I asked.

  “Um, yeah.” She attempted to hop down from the boulder, making Landry lunge to catch her waist and lower her gently down. She was still in her socks—her hiking boots kicked off during our encounter.

  “And you have reason to believe you’ll find them up here?”

  A little frown showed up between her brows, like she suspected I was about to claim she was wrong. “There have been documented sightings of the grey wolf in these parts,” she said, a note of defensiveness to her voice. She sat on the soft pine needles to put on her boots.

  “There’s a pack up here, for sure,” I agreed. Two packs, actually—one animal, one shifter. “Several of the females just had pups. Feels like a bit of a violation to lead you to them, though.”

  Caitlyn’s eyes lit up. “So you’ve seen them? You know there are pups?”

  Landry was watching Caitlyn with open fascination—the same feeling soaking through me. “We know where to find them,” he offered. “But can you tell us a little more about your plans with them?”

  Caitlyn stood, and dusted the pine needles off her butt. She put her hands on her hips. “I am a wolf biologist,” she said, as if that explained everything. “My sole purpose is to protect the natural ecosystem and the wolves’ place in it. All I’m doing is shooting them with a tranquilizer so I can get close enough to inject a chip into the scruff of their neck that will allow me to track them from my office back in Granger. It doesn’t hurt or harm the wolves.”

  When neither of us responded, she dropped her defensive stance. “I wouldn’t disturb a mother and her pups,” she conceded. “But I would give anything to see them.”

  Landry’s lips curved. “Anything, sugar?”

  She flushed, glancing at the bulge of his cock in his jeans. When she licked her lips, both of us growled. “I mean, I do want to reciprocate… with both of you.” She stole a glance at me, too.

  “Oh, we’re counting on it.” Landry’s grin was wicked. “I would’ve put you on your knees out here, but I wasn’t sure if the pine needles were soft enough to cushion them.”

  Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink.

  “Like I said, big plans, big bed.” I picked up her backpack and slung it over one shoulder. “Come
on, Caitlyn. We’ll make your dreams come true.”

  “Um… you already have,” she mumbled.

  I wanted to think it was because she now belonged to us, but I had a feeling she meant that we were giving her access to the wolves. I respected her passion in her work, but I would get her to be just as passionate about us. More passionate. Passionate enough to leave her research unpublished.

  Landry and I flanked Caitlyn as we headed toward my cabin. We’d need my truck to get out to the area where the wolves—the canis lupus variety, not hominum lupus, or shifters—roamed. Wolves were territorial, and the wolf dogs respected our territory, staying to the outskirts. Nowhere near here. If we hadn’t met her, she’d have had to walk miles from our current location.

  In the old days, wolves lived among shifter packs, much the way dogs live with humans. But since their return from near extinction, the shifter communities have not allowed wolf dogs to mingle, as it changes their natural migration and hunting practices.

  I wanted to tell Caitlyn all of this now because I knew it would make her little wolf biologist heart race, but it was too soon.

  Somehow, we’d have to prepare her for the shock of what we were. But she wasn’t ready yet.

  “So,” she said, looking from me to Landry as we cut through the open field. While she’d been on a trail before, we weren’t on one now. “You told me you lived in the area, but do you both live on this land?”

  “Yes,” I said. “All my life. The Wests own this entire swath of land, but there are houses all up in here. A small community.”

  She gazed at Landry speculatively. “So your family are land developers?”

  Landry chuckled and adjusted his cowboy hat. “Nope. Silver miners, originally. That’s how they came to own almost the entire mountain. Mining’s long past. These days, the main business for the family and the entire community is the West Springs Distillery.”

  “Is that where you work?” she asked me.

  “Yes. I’m their IT specialist.”

  She stopped then, when we turned to check on her, she started up again. “You are?”

  I frowned. “Does that surprise you?”

  “Well, yes,” she admitted, then pointed to my Stetson. “You look more like a rancher or a cowboy.”

  “Don’t say rancher,” Landry advised. “That’s an insult. We are not friendly with those around here. Mainly because they want to take out our wolves.”

  Caitlyn peered up at Landry. “You’re protective of them.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Landry shot her one of his charming West smiles. “We’re custodians of this land. We protect everything and everyone on it. Including the wolves.”

  “So when you turned me down, you were sheltering them?”

  Landry shrugged. “I know your studies are important to you. But we don’t like anyone messing with our wildlife. Also, from what I heard, a couple wolves with trackers were found killed last fall.”

  A growl rumbled in my chest as I thought of my mother. Caitlyn looked up at me, and I took a deep breath to relax. She hadn’t pulled the trigger.

  But would keeping her here and helping her do her job lead to other wolves dying?

  Caitlyn frowned and stopped again. “Killed how?”

  “Shot,” I offered bluntly. “Likely by ranchers. They are notorious for wanting to thin the packs while saying they were doing it to save their livestock.”

  She gave me a wide-eyed stare, then her gaze narrowed. “You can’t think there’s any relationship between the trackers and ranchers shooting the wolves. No one has access to my tracking data but my research team.” She sounded insulted.

  I glanced at Landry. I wanted to believe her. She was our mate, after all, which made my inner wolf snarl. But we had to protect our pack, and all the wolves. I knew the consequences of not doing so all too painfully.

  Which was why we needed to stick to Caitlyn like glue.

  6

  CAITLYN

  Wade’s cabin was the kind of ‘little cabin in the woods’ that made me sigh dreamily.

  Although it wasn’t all that little.

  We’d walked there to get his truck, but he invited me in to get a drink before we headed out to hunt wolves.

  “My grandfathers built this cabin for their mate—I mean, wife—back in the 1950’s,” Wade explained.

  “Grandfathers? As in plural?” I asked.

  The men glanced at each other.

  “Yep. There’s a history of sharing women up here in West Springs, dating back to the first settlers.” Landry flashed me a bad-boy grin and adjusted his hat like he was proud of this heritage. “Probably had something to do with women being outnumbered by men, ten to one. As a result, threesomes became oddly normalized here. Wade had two grandfathers and one grandmother.”

  “Just two parents, though.” Wade winked at me.

  “That is crazy.” I remembered how they’d taken me over that boulder. I wasn’t opposed to the concept. I definitely hadn’t considered it before now, but I didn’t see anything wrong with it. “I’m not naive enough to think there aren’t such things as ménage, but it’s always in the context of sex. Only sex.”

  Landry shook his head. “Sex, yes, but these are solid relationships, spending a lifetime together. Raising a family. It somehow works.” He shrugged. “Are your parents in Granger?”

  “No, they live in Connecticut.”

  “You are far from home,” Wade added.

  “My parents have plans for me that don’t include wolves. They think I’m wasting my time, and have made it very well known.”

  Maybe it was the shift in my voice, but they caught on to my bitterness.

  I sighed and tried to make them understand. “They love me, but they want what they think is best for me. I don’t think they are intentionally mean, but they hurt my feelings by not valuing my dreams.”

  “They are disrespectful.”

  I shrugged at Landry’s observation.

  “I like your concept. Close family ties, a common good to protect your land and community.”

  “When we said we wanted you between us, we meant it,” Wade said.

  I believed him. I wondered why it didn’t bother me, their alternate lifestyle. Oh yeah, because I’d been between them and it had been amazing. And the idea of forever with these two wasn’t as scary as it perhaps should be.

  Forever? Now I was the one who was crazy. Right? Were they looking for something long term, or was this a keep the scientist satisfied while she’s here scenario? They’d done a good job of doing that so far. Knowing their beliefs in being with a woman, it felt… better. I didn’t question as much.

  I blinked and steered my mind away from the outdoor sexy times. Made of rough-hewn logs, the place wasn’t a mansion, but it was large for one man. A pellet stove sat in one corner of the large living room, and the huge picture windows looked out over the pine trees and a well-established vegetable garden.

  To complete the idyllic scene, a babbling brook ran along one side, with the sweetest little footbridge spanning it.

  I stood at the window, imagining what it would be like to have this as my view every day. To live surrounded by nature. No other people. No traffic or street noise. Nothing but the wind through the trees. “Are those raspberry bushes?” I asked, pointing to a row of prickly plants at the edge of the clearing.

  “Yep. And blackberry. Those were my grandmother’s. She baked the best pies,” Wade said.

  I turned, leaned against the sink. “This is an incredible property. But I’m totally confused about why your grandfathers would build a house on property that didn’t belong to him? I mean… them. The Wests own this land, right?”

  Wade flicked a glance at Landry, and scrubbed a hand across his face. “Well, back then, it was a tiny mountain town where everyone was related in one way or another,” he said. “Property was pretty much considered communal. It may say on paper that Gibson West owns all of this, but there is no scenario where he’d ever try to tak
e possession of someone else’s house.”

  Huh. I didn’t get it, but whatever. Absently, I moved out of the kitchen, which was a little outdated, but quaint with the butcher block island and farmer’s sink. I ran my hand along the back of his leather couch, peeked in the bathroom and couldn’t miss the huge shower, then stood in the bedroom doorway.

  “You said Gibson’s your brother?” I asked Landry.

  “That’s right,” he confirmed.

  I heard his answer, but was distracted. The room had a vaulted ceiling, wood plank floors with a soft area rug, but it was the oversized bed which took up most of the space. I heated, thinking of the three of us in it. We would all fit. Better than the boulder.

  I bit my lip, knowing the guys must have blue balls after earlier up in the meadow.

  They were quiet, and I startled when Wade put his hand on my shoulder. “Debating?”

  “What?” I asked breathlessly. I’d seen his bare chest. It was spectacular. I was eager to see more. But—

  “You’re debating whether to fuck us or find those wolves, aren’t you?”

  Landry moved to stand next to him. They were so big, I had to tip my chin back. My butt tingled still from the spanking, and my clit pulsed, eager for more.

  “I-I…”

  Landry laughed. “It either shows how into your research you are, or you doubt our abilities as lovers.”

  I shook my head, afraid I’d insulted him. “No, it’s not—”

  Landry stroked my hair back. “I’m kidding. Let’s go find your wolves. Then we can play.” He looked to Wade, who nodded.

  “Yeah, when we get you in my bed, we don’t want you thinking about anything but us.”

  Oh my.

  Landry stepped back, then went to grab my backpack. “Ready?”

  I took a deep breath, let it out. Was I making the right choice? Was leaving a cabin in the woods with two virile men who wanted to fuck me a stupid move?